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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Scott Writes:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>By Dale's logic, I should just rely on one of them - Terry Morin for
example - and be able to determine <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Christ</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Church</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>'s priorities.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Me:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I don’t know if I follow. The brush isn’t very broad
here; the topic isn’t whether <st1:City w:st="on">Wilson</st1:City> is
Satan or whether or not slaves got to drink iced tea; the topic is just whether
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Christ</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Church</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> is really all that politically
motivated. I thought this was a good point Dale made, albeit perhaps not as
strong a piece of evidence as he suggests. At the very least, please
accept this historical event as symbolic of what I and many others take to be
our true political bent. We had someone ‘in power’ and what
happened? He decided to go to the East coast to plant a church, and
nobody around here threw any fit about it; I never even knew somebody from our
church held any political office and I know a lot about our church. Hmmm.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Terry Morin is an interesting example here. Terry left the church
when <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Wilson</st1:place></st1:City> was
more involved explicitly with politics and had a different view towards
politics. This was also when the church was very small (about a year
before I came and about the same time my wife’s family moved here) still
in great flux, etc. I actually appreciated some of the documentation on
Terry’s sight, which I informed <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Wilson</st1:place></st1:City>
of. But even if Terry’s view is correct about what happened then,
does this really say much about the church now? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>If you don’t like painting with broad brushes based on one
paradigm case, then why not get to know all the elders and all the members and
all the nsa students and all nsa faculty? Try out some of <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Wayne</st1:place></st1:City>’s induction,
or even mine. Why did I come here for example? Well, just months
into my marriage, my first wife had left me a couple times, and it looked like
we were headed for divorce; I read Reforming Marriage, heard some good things
about the community here and moved here temporarily to get marriage
counseling. I went back home, the divorce was unfortunately in place, and
so I decided I liked this church more than the one at home. So I moved
back and here I am. I married again and have four children. I’ve
been a business owner here for years and painted Terry Morin’s house (and
Pam Steg’s, although I didn’t pick the colors); we got mineral
spirits on part of his grass and replaced the patch with the wrong kind of
grass. I’m now a Grayfriar student and write for Credenda. Jones
and I read through Flannery O’Conner last year and Leithart is my
favorite theologian. I got my B.S. in philosophy at the U of I under my
favorite teacher. Now, am I a political storm trooper brought in by
Taliban Wilson? Of course not. I think Christians taking much stock
in politics is bad. Not only do I think ministers and churches qua churches
should not take explicitly political postures (generally speaking), I wonder if
it is healthy if Christians as mere local citizens should be as concerned as
folks here on Vision2020 seem to be. I think folks from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Christ</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Church</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
have been arrogant and rude to people outside the church here locally.
And I think they have been rude to me. And I’m sure I have been
rude to other people over the last 10 years. And I sure as hell know folks
outside the church have been rude us. We are all sinners. We each
seem to have to competing gospels. Let’s have a showdown shall
we? The side who’s gospel is more effective to establish love,
integrity and morality in the community wins. You can have your politics;
my claim is that your politics is your god. It isn’t my god; the
state is not my god. Let’s see if your god can love like our God
can. Up for the competition? May the best god win.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Yours <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Michael Metzler<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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